Recently, playing the daily New York Times word games has been a major trend in the SCH upper school community. Wordle was initially an extremely popular game in 2022, but the game eventually died off after a couple of months. In 2023-24, the NYT released new games such as Connections, Mini CrossWord, Spelling Bee, and Strands. SCH students look forward to playing these games every day.

But why are these games so popular? An anonymous SCH student said, “Overall they’re fun and they make me feel like I did something with my day.” Accomplishing a new challenge every day is a very satisfying feeling which is why the daily reset factor of these games is so enticing.

These games are fun and mentally stimulating, but they can be distracting. So… is there a problem?

These short daily puzzles are fairly challenging. However, an issue that has come from these games is how distracting they can be. Students have been caught playing these games during class lectures and when they were supposed to be doing classwork.

Another anonymous junior admits, “I play in class because it’s quick when I’m bored.”

While these brain games to some extent benefit your mind, playing them in class hinders the ability to focus and actively participate in activities.

Nobody wants to fall behind with their work so keep playing these games during break, free, or lunch.